Groomlakearea51 Posted December 15, 2008 Share Posted December 15, 2008 Well... I've finally decided to try my hand at building a couple subwoofers for the HT and the MBR HT. I am obtaining two Klipsch K-26 woofers designed for subwoofer use. I have no earthly idea what size the cabinets should be, what would be a good plate amp to use, or what the "cutoff" should be. Cabinets will be 1" thick Russian birch. Primary amps will be Onkyo TX-SR 705's with the dedicated sub channel RCA outputs. Room size for one will be approximately 350 square feet and the other is 280 square feet. Both have lotsa' furniture, etc. I'd like to do front firing drivers with a nice grill, etc. I'm not really worried about "killer" bass, but would like to get some better sound from the sound effects, etc. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Also, if anyone has the driver specs for the K-26, I do have the Winspeaker program (and have no idea how to use it.... but am working on it....) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 Marshall, I'm assuming you're making 2 single driver cabinets as opposed to 1 dual driver cabinet. I would find the dimensions of the box that Klipsch designed for them and use that to figure your box volume. They've allready done the research to find out what the optimal box size is for those particular TS parameters. You can also use the wattage that their plate amps put out as a starting point for your amp shopping. If you go ported or PR, then disregard everything I've said. Another thing to consider is that outboard amplification such as pro amps are mugh cheaper than plate amps when it comes to watts/dollar. The downside is that their fans are loud (easy fix) and there's no filters built in like plate amps have. EDIT ! ! I just saw where they were used in a PR cabinet. Disregard the "box dimension" reference. Looks like you'll need to dig up TS parameters and go from there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 If you could get ahold of a couple of KD-122 PR's................................................... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael hurd Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 Looks like they were used in about 2.5 cu ft roughly internally, if we had the t/s parameters and the stock tuning we can model it and see what other passives will work. Of course, you won't have the amp that had some circuitry for electrical high pass. How much $$ are you willing to spend? In a ported / PR'd system, you need a high pass filter to keep you safe from hurting the sub driver. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groomlakearea51 Posted December 18, 2008 Author Share Posted December 18, 2008 Thanks so far. The primary amps I am going to use will be the Onkyo TX-SR 705's. They have a RCA type sub output from the pre-amp section and I can "assign" the frequency cut off from between 80 to 120 Hz. I was thinking about 2.5 cubic feet and using a BASH plate amp or something along those lines. Won't need them real loud, just want to use them at low to moderate volume levels when the wife and kids watch movies, etc. Budget? The "boxes" I will build, so I would guess about $150 or so for a "plate" amp. I want to keep it "simple". As soon as I can find the T/S parameters for the K-26, I will post it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 Be careful Marshall, clean bass is addictive. It's a very slippery slope once you take the first step. Before you know it you'll be on your 3'rd or 4'th build, or cutting hohes in your living room walls for an IB like I did!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groomlakearea51 Posted December 18, 2008 Author Share Posted December 18, 2008 The K-26's were "stock" in the SW-12. It was a "front firer" and it had a passive radiator. I know the "box" size, so as a simple experiment.... I just need to find a passive..... Huhmmm... partsexpress? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 The K-26's were "stock" in the SW-12. It was a "front firer" and it had a passive radiator. I know the "box" size, so as a simple experiment.... I just need to find a passive..... Huhmmm... partsexpress? I think you need to know the Fs of the stock PR but I could be wrong. They also make adjustable PR's. I've never dabbled in PR's much. I'll bet Michael Hurd has done a little homework on PR's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groomlakearea51 Posted December 19, 2008 Author Share Posted December 19, 2008 Daddy Dee found the answers on the T/S; http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/t/104791.aspx?PageIndex=1 So next project is to look at "ported" vs "passive radiator". My space is going to be limited so I want to keep the "footprint" as small as practical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groomlakearea51 Posted December 19, 2008 Author Share Posted December 19, 2008 Looks like they were used in about 2.5 cu ft roughly internally, if we had the t/s parameters and the stock tuning we can model it and see what other passives will work. Of course, you won't have the amp that had some circuitry for electrical high pass. How much $$ are you willing to spend? In a ported / PR'd system, you need a high pass filter to keep you safe from hurting the sub driver. Mike: Question... Using a "plate amp", can you not set the plate amp to only produce at <120 hz, etc? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 Mike: Question... Using a "plate amp", can you not set the plate amp to only produce at <120 hz, etc? Not Mike here. Usually your receiver will send the sub everything below your selected crossover point, such as 120 Hz to the sub. The high pass filter will keep frequencies below the tuning point of the enclosure from bottoming the driver. Some plate amps have high pass filters, PEQ's and adjustable phase built in. the more bells and whistles you get, normally the higher the price. If you can't find PR's then ported would be a good option. The smallest footprint for a sub that I can think of would be a sonotube. The footprint would be slightly larger than the driver itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groomlakearea51 Posted December 19, 2008 Author Share Posted December 19, 2008 I found the PR's at parts express; only $29.95 but have the threaded bolt to allow me to tune it. The amps have a subwoofer out from pre-amp so I can set the volume on a plate amp and not have to worry about that. Parts express has a very good 240 watt Dayton plate amp on sale for only $110 that has alot of very good reviews. Huhm... This may be a doable thing without too much drama.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael hurd Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 Without a high pass ( subsonic filter ) you will definately be in danger of over-excursion and breaking the spider or bottoming the voice coil on the back plate. Passive radiators have specifications as well, and you have to take into account the maximum rated mass when modelling them in a program. In other words, you need to know if the passive radiator will work in the alignment and if you are in danger of over-excursion of both the powered driver and the passive radiator. Simulation with Uni-box or WinISD pro will show whether or not the parts will work together nicely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groomlakearea51 Posted December 19, 2008 Author Share Posted December 19, 2008 Mike: I believe that the pre-amp setting on the Onkyo only passes what the setting is selected (between 80 and 120 Hz); The plate amp appears to have a high pass filter with an adjustable setting. I will call onkyo and partsexpress and ask them to make sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aggie Klipsch Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 I would look into the DIY forums over at www.avsforum.com . There are some really good subs tuned to say 14Hz that are fairly easy to build. Look in their gallery at all the different syles, finishes and types. Evidently you can build some of these behemoths for around $500. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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